Bobby Dan Wilson

Bobby Dan Wilson, 86, of Wortham, Texas, passed away on Tuesday, April 11, 2023, at Navarro Regional Hospital in Corsicana after a lengthy illness.  Bobby was born on March 31, 1937, to Raymond and Vada Calame Wilson in Corsicana, Texas.  He was raised in Wortham and graduated from Wortham High School in 1955.  Bobby was a member of the Corps of Cadets and earned a degree in finance at the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas (now Texas A&M University) in 1959.  He was a proud Texas Aggie and enjoyed attending A&M football games, especially when his team played his beloved wife’s Baylor Bears.  He worked several jobs to pay for college, including Gulf Pipeline.  After graduation, Bobby started his first job at Austin National Bank, then became an agricultural banker at Blacklands Production Credit Association, based in Mexia, Texas, where he served as president for 20 years until his retirement in 1981.  He was the youngest PCA president in the company at age 25.

Bobby was a life-long Texas rancher and bought his first cattle while in high school.  He ran a cow-calf and stocker yearling operation in central Texas.  He was appointed to the National Beef Promotion and Research Board, 1986-1991, and served as co-chair of the National Beef Checkoff Campaign Committee.  Bobby was recognized as the Navarro County Rotary Club Farmer of the Year 1998 and received the Texas Farm Bureau Pioneer Award in 2010.  He served as a Director with the Freestone County Farm Bureau for 24 years, and the Navarro County Extension Livestock Committee for 20 years.  He was a member of the Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association and elected a Director in 1988.

In addition to his cattle operation, he owned Texoma Land Company for farm and ranch real estate, was an oil operator in Wortham, and owned The Richland Store in Richland, 1986-1993.  More recently he served on the District Soil and Water Conservation Board, and was the Lake Manager for the Navarro County Soil and Water Conservation District, before retiring in 2020.  To sum it up, Bobby was one of the last of the great generation of true Texas ranchers and cowboys who loved the land, and lived by the values and lessons learned from it.

Bobby was an active member of First Baptist Church, Wortham for 57 years, and served as a Deacon and Sunday School Director for many of those years.  In 1964, Bobby met Barbara Davidson at a farm/ranch feed store in Mart, Texas, where she was serving coffee for a Lone Star Gas Company promotional event.  Here, Bobby drank his only cup of coffee in his entire life, in order to meet his future bride.  Bobby and Barbara married in May 1965 at Columbus Avenue Baptist Church in Waco, Texas, and made their home in Wortham for several years before building their current home on their ranch property in Navarro County in 1973.  After almost 58 years of marriage, they have been blessed with four daughters, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Bobby was preceded in death by his parents, Raymond and Vada Calame Wilson, his sister Lavada Brown, and brother Franklin Wilson.  Bobby is survived by his wife, Barbara; his daughters, Sasha (Rob) Walters, Susan (Zac) Crouch, Shannah (Matthew) Quinn, and Summer (Robert) Terry; grandchildren, Faith (Tim) Truax, Zane Crouch, Jacob Walters, Zinnia Crouch, Asher Crouch, Zoe Crouch, Abby Terry, Eli Quinn, Evelyn Quinn, and Annabelle Terry; great-grandchildren Silas, Lydia, Esther and Addison Truax.

A funeral service will be held at First Baptist Church, 300 S. 3^rd St., Wortham, Texas, on Saturday, April 15, at 10 am, with Adam Barker and Justin Colquette officiating.  Visitation with the family will be at Blair Stubbs Funeral Home, 605 S. McKinney, Mexia, Texas, on Friday, April 14, 6-8 pm.  Burial will be at Wortham Cemetery following the service.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to First Baptist Church Wortham Memorial Fund, PO Box 426, Wortham, TX 76693 or by clicking this link https://www.fbcwortham.com/ and hitting the green give option.